Web of Deceit
by Yours truly - Pride
Summary: Zeref seems very much out of character, but what if this is because he isn't even Zeref? That would mean that someone else is not what he or she seems to be. A web of deceit is being spun around Natsu. Do read, enjoy and review.


**Pride: Heya there readers! This story is just based on a wild idea I thought of. I don't think it would actually happen though, just thought it would be cool to write a story about it. I have no idea what's with me and relatively long story titles…**

**This fic is dedicated to Cardboard Pixie, AtomicProBomb, Reighart, NxE-Forever, Muffinypowers and AntiNalu34575 amongst many others I have had the pleasure of befriending on this site. **

**Also, I don't think this is exactly the right time or place to be saying this, but if you're reading this, get well soon, Pixie! I await your return to Fanfiction, in the pink of health. Don't you dare push yourself now, wait until you're completely healed, alright! **

**Anyways, on to the story! Do drop a review once you're done! **

* * *

Narrator's Perspective

'Thoughts'

_"_Speech_" _

**"****Attacks/Raised Voices"**

_Settings- Place and Time _

_Memories/ Diary Entries_

* * *

_"__There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact"_

- Arthur Conan Doyle

* * *

**Web of Deceit**

A Fairy Tail original fanfiction

* * *

"A-are you okay?" asked the kindly train conductor, worried for his passenger's well-being. The poor passenger did seem awfully green in the face, mind you.

"Aye! This happens all the time!" chimed a little blue cat, raising a paw.

The conductor was too shocked for words. Were cats even supposed to talk? Heck, they weren't even supposed to walk on their two hind feet, damn it!

Before he could even try and clear his confusion, the mage and his cat headed towards the exit of the train.

"I will never, ever ride a train again!" exclaimed Natsu dramatically as the blood slowly returned to his pale face.

"That's what you say all the time, Natsu!" replied Happy, cheerful as ever, as Natsu stuck his head out of a window, releasing the contents of his breakfast, despite having done so multiple times throughout the train ride. Happy could have sworn, his partner had and endless pit of a stomach, throwing up copious quantities of undigested food. Well, Natsu did eat a lot, so Happy guessed it kind of made sense.

"If the information we got was correct, then Salamander should be in this town. Let's go!" he continued speaking, hopping off the train carriage.

"L-let me rest for a while," pleaded Natsu weakly, arms hanging limply out of the window.

"Okay!"

The train started to pull out of the station, causing Natsu's eyeballs to pop out and his mouth to hang wide open in disbelief and despair.

"Ah, it departed already," said Happy in a matter-of-fact tone, his silly smile still plastered onto his little blue face.

Before he could sprout his wings and fly to Natsu's aid, though, he felt a large hand on his shoulder.

Turning around, he was met with the sight of a young man dressed in a set of flowing red robes with gold trimmings, and a white toga. The man had black hair, the fringe of which was shadowing his eyes.

The man, who seemed to be in his thirties, grinned sinisterly at him, making a cold shudder run down the blue cat's spine.

In the fraction of a second that Happy lost his composure, a wave of white washed over his vision, as he struggled and flailed helplessly, thinking that the man was trying to capture him.

When the wave of white cleared, he saw a blue cat floating before him. The blue cat inspected its own body, smiling in satisfaction.

"It worked," said the blue cat apathetically, looking at Happy.

'Wh-what? Why does that cat look like me? Is this a mirror? No, it can't be…Then what? What the hell is going on?!' thought the blue exceed in panic, not understanding how or why he got into this situation.

Looking down at his hands, he tried to…wait, what?! Hands?

With a cry of surprise and panic, Happy realized that he no longer had paws, but instead had hands, like a human. Inspecting the rest of his body, he noticed that he was wearing the same clothes he had seen the man wearing earlier.

Pulling down a strand of hair from his forehead, and noting that it was black, he concluded that he was now the man. The suspicious figure must have somehow switched bodies with him.

"N-no! NO!" yelled Happy out loud.

"Oh, but this **is** happening, tomcat. From now on, I am Happy the cat and you are Zeref the Black Mage," said the blue cat from its spot in the air, smirking sadistically.

"W-what? Why?!" cried Happy, not understanding, even less liking the situation he found himself in. He hated how he was having a peaceful, happy conversation with Natsu mere moments ago, and was now finding himself neck-deep in a sea of danger.

"I will only answer that last question. Natsu, my creation, is destined to either kill me, or to join me as a fellow dark mage. I do not wish for him to fight me, which is why I am going to stay by his side and control his destiny. When is finally broken enough, emotionally, he will seek Zeref. Then, I shall come for you again, to reclaim my rightful body. Until then, be a good kitty, alright?" he explained, grinning evilly.

"Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I've placed a Macro on my own body so you can't destroy it, or reveal important information to others, so don't even bother trying."

As the blue cat flew away, Happy, who was currently stuck in the dark mage's body, couldn't help the tears the cascaded down his cheeks. He felt so weak and helpless.

Happy let loose a cry of desperation and grief that no one heard.

Suddenly, he felt a searing pain on his back. His green Fairy Tail mark blazed through his back, glowing through the dark robes.

Happy fell to the ground in exhaustion when the pain finally subsided, panting in ragged breaths.

Slowly raising his head from the dirt, he saw a little girl with long, flowing blonde hair and wing-like ornaments on the sides of her head. She was dressed in frilly pink robes, and wore a sympathetic smile on her face, having understood all that had transpired a few minutes ago.

"What was that? Who are you?" Happy inquired, his voice finally becoming steadier. The girl before him seemed to emanate hope in generous amounts.

"I am Mavis Vermillion, the First Master of Fairy Tail as well as its founder. I came here because I felt your despair through your Fairy Tail mark. And before you ask me, yes I am dead, but my massive magic container allows me to materialize in this world, which is why I can converse with you normally," she introduced herself.

"F-first? I would be honoured to meet you if it were any other time, but right now…"

"How did you feel my mark? I don't even have one in this form," questioned Happy, confused, although he couldn't help the small ray of hope that shined on his heart.

"Simple little cat," she giggled.

"The Fairy Tail mark bonds members in more than just a physical way. The mark is branded not on your body, but on your soul. Even if you are in a different body, your soul is still that of Happy, Natsu Dragneel's foster son and best friend. Of course I can identify you," she explained, letting out another small giggle that raised the cat's spirits.

Smiling, Happy raised his head and smiled a hesitant smile, before a splitting headache struck him. A wave of magic instantly exploded out of him, causing the trees nearby to shrivel up and die. A bird that had been chirping happily on a tree branch nearby, fell to the ground in a heap of bones, bleached by the death magic.

Mavis couldn't hide her worry at such a scene. Clapping her hands to her mouth, she gasped in shock at the death caused by Happy's lack of control on Zeref's magic.

"I hadn't taken into account the fact that you probably couldn't control Zeref's potent Death Magic…" she admitted.

"Happy, you will have to stay somewhere far from civilization until we find out a way to solve this, alright? In the meantime, we will have to work on your magic control. I don't blame you, Zeref's magic is too wild and powerful for anyone to control," she said kindly, not wanting to worry her guild member any further.

"But where?" his eyes were downcast, not having any idea as to how he was going to deal with this situation.

Mavis had to give him credit though, the cat was immature and childish, yet he was taking this change better than she expected. She expected a more hysterical response from someone who had just switched bodies and magic with the most powerful and dangerous dark mage in all of Earthland's history.

"Tenrou Island."

* * *

Zeref, or rather, Happy, was lying on the cold ground in Tenrou Island, willing his eyes to close and merciful sleep to overtake him. A brief and throaty growl interrupted his attempts to sleep, though, as he shot up to a sitting position and frantically looked around him.

His eyes landed on a pack of wolves that were circling him, closing in gradually. Their eyes reflected extreme hunger and bloodlust.

Happy began to panic, not for his own safety but for that of the wolves.

"No, please, no. Don't come any closer. I don't want to kill you!" he yelled, hoping in vain that it would make them change their minds and turn away.

However, the wolves merely inched closer to him, before they all pounced in synchronization, intending to sink their fangs into his flesh.

A sudden buildup of Death Magic burst out of him, sweeping cleanly through a thirty-meter radius of his body.

The milky white, bleached bones of the once-alive wolves fell with a clatter to the ground, the only sign that the wolves had even existed in the first place. The trees around all lacked leaves, and their trunks were a charred black. The entire land that had been caught in his fatal magic had turned barren.

Tears streamed down his cheeks, as he grieved for the lives lost due to his lack of control. He was, however, thankful that Mavis prevented a greater loss of lives by isolating him from the rest of civilization.

"Natsu, I want to meet you soon…"

* * *

When Happy met Elfman and Evergreen on Tenrou Island, he was relieved to say the least. He hoped that they could help him meet Natsu. Opening his mouth to let loose the question he longed to ask, he felt the familiar buildup of Black Magic in his body.

'No! Not now, of all times!' he thought, desperately trying to suppress the magic.

The magic, however, proved to be too powerful as it exploded outwards to consume the two Fairy Tail mages in its deathly jaws.

However, a pink-haired mage jumped in the way, intent on saving his friends.

'Natsu, no!' thought Happy, his eyes widening.

He resisted letting out a sigh of relief when Natsu's scarf absorbed the death magic.

Natsu was mortified when he saw that his scarf had turned black, but Happy was relieved.

'Small price to pay for being able to escape unscathed…'

"I have been waiting for you, Natsu Dragneel…" he said, unable to hide the happiness in his voice.

The dragon slayer, though, seemed to have other plans as he lunged at the black-haired man before him with a flame-enhanced fist.

Happy felt the heat and slight pain as his body was thrown a small distance backwards. His back hit the hard ground.

Getting back to his feet, he couldn't help the tears of frustration and disappointment that ran down his cheeks.

"Alas, you are not strong enough to kill me yet, Natsu…" he said, disappointed that his suffering would not end today.

* * *

On board the Grimoire Heart airship, Zeref glared furiously at Hades.

"Acnologia heralds the ends of eras. It was summoned by your evil ambitions," spoke Happy in a deep voice, remembering what Mavis had told him about Acnologia. He had decided to take things into his own hands, instead of moping around on Tenrou Island.

"You must be punished. First, you must be punished for summoning Acnologia. Second, you must be punished for making me forget the weight of a human life."

He swiped both his hands around in a circular motion, making the bottom of both hands meet. The hand on top had the index and middle fingers pointing upwards, while the bottom hand had the index and little fingers pointing downwards.

His eyes were cold and devoid of emotion.

'This man deserves to die for bringing harm to my comrades and for summoning Acnologia,' he convinced himself.

He felt the familiar magic coursing furiously within this body, except that this time it was more controlled. It was now flowing in accordance to his wishes and emotions. He embraced it, for his friends.

'I will use Zeref's own magic to foil his plans. If this is what I get, then I will make the best of it. That is what Natsu has taught me! And if I fail, I will just pick myself up and walk onward to victory! That is the way of Fairy Tail!' he thought furiously.

"Repent! **Death Pillar!**" he yelled, releasing his magic that consumed the already battered body of Purehito Hades.

When the magic cleared, all that he and the other members of Grimoire Heart could see was a shell of what Hades had been, devoid of life. His last expression, one of fear, was etched into the lines of his old face.

"Trash that don't know they are trash, deserve to drown in the deepest abyss of darkness," he condemned Hades in a cold voice.

'Now this is a war between you and me, Zeref! Just watch, I will turn this despair into hope and crush you with it!' Happy thought, determined, the flames of hope burning brightly in his heart. He had never been more thankful for having been around Natsu so much, such that he was even beginning to adopt his personality.

'Zeref, the members of Fairy Tail as well as myself may be caught within your web of deceit for now, but not for long! I will personally see to it that you don't control Natsu's destiny!'

"I'm all fired up!" he yelled, pumping his fist into the air and surprising the remaining Grimoire Heart members, who were on their knees, shaking in fear of his overwhelming power.

* * *

**Pride: Done! I felt that Happy deserved a little more attention. Well, once in a while, at least. This was a strangely satisfying story. So, that's all I have to say, do drop a review on your way out!**

**- Yours truly, Pride**


End file.
